Place: Maniace / Etna West, Via Santa Maria di Maniace.

Type: Easy.

Distance: 13 Km from Bronte and 1 km (internal circuit).

Time required: a / r: 2 h.

The Abbey of Santa Maria di Maniace (also called Duchy of Nelson, Nelson and Castle Maniace Duchy) is a building that is on the border between the towns of Bronte and Maniace. It was founded by Queen Margaret of Navarre, wife of William I of Sicily, in the twelfth century. It was donated in perpetual feud with the (15,000 hectares) in 1799 by King Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies to the English Admiral Horatio Nelson out of gratitude that he had repressed the so-called Neapolitan Republic, saving his life and kingdom.

This variety of pistachio grows on the rough terrain of Bronte and in no other part of Europe. And only here has an emerald green so bright and smell so intense, resinous, fat.
Screwed on steep roads between the Etna and Nebrodi, Bronte pistachio lives: there are those who cultivate them, who sells them , who turns them into sweets, creams and sauces.
The trees are not fertilized, do not irrigate - because there is not water - treating very little and are pruned a few times to remove the branches dry and remove the gems over the years "discharge". Pistachio, in fact, a year and produces one-year rest and, during this, the farmers remove the few buds sprouted on the branches so that the plant can store all the energy to explode in the next season.
Waiting for two years, the collection is the decisive moment. Between the end of August and beginning of September, the town empties: loci (local name of pistacchiete) all work: women, old people and children. The collection is complicated, you teetering on the rocks of lava, clinging to the branches with one hand while the other hand come off the beans one by one, to make them fall in the canvas bag tied around his neck. In a day of work they collect up to 20 pounds of pistachios. Only in the land easier you can help by placing a tarp under the tree.
The green pistachio of Bronte can not withstand the competition of the fruits less tasty, but much cheaper, from Iran, from Turkey and America. So the main confectionery and large Italian sausage - who once bought the pistachios in Sicily - are turning to foreign production.

information:

Visit the company

Tasting confectionery

Lunch in a local agreement

Visit the Duchy of Nelson